As per the officials, a DoT committee has been set up and it will finalise the quantum of spectrum that can be put up for sale. “The DoT committee is doing consultations with other ministries including broadcasting and space, to finalise how much spectrum can be freed up for auction,” an official privy to the details, said.
Mid-band spectrum is considered ideal for 5G services because it can carry loads of data and also travel long distances. As per global telecom industry body GSMA, spectrum in the 3.3 GHz to 3.8 GHz range is particularly appealing for 5G as many countries across the world have already designated it for the technology, leading to speedy development of the ecosystem, including handsets and equipment.
In India, currently 3.8 GHz is utilised by some broadcasting and satellite players and DoT is looking at ways to shift those players to higher frequency bands, so that some of the band can be freed up and auctioned for 5G, said the official.
Last year, the department had put up mid-band airwaves in the 3.3 GHz to 3.6 GHz range and the 26 GHz mmWave band for auction, which saw demand from all three private telcos — Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. The auction netted the government a record Rs 1,50,173 crore, with bids for 71% of the 72.098 GHz of airwaves put on the block. The mid-band and mmWave band airwaves were sold at the base prices of `317 crore per MHz and Rs 6.99 crore per MHz, generating Rs 80,590 crore and Rs 14,709 crore, respectively. DoT’s move to identify more airwave bands for telecom usage comes as the need among telcos for more bandwidth increases with 5G expansion and new technologies like 6G on the anvil in the coming years, said experts.
“The DoT committee will explore all the options to utilise the spectrum in an efficient way as keeping high-value spectrum for broadcasting and satellite is not prudent,” another official said. Once the DoT committee identifies the spectrum bands and how much quantum can be auctioned, the matter will be placed before the committee of secretaries, after which recommendations will be sought from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on pricing and other modalities.
